SASHA Farm director had deep ties to animals and the community

A celebration of “Jefferson,” the steer that was rescued by Dorothy and Monte from the Al-Badr Slaughterhouse in Detroit in 2003. Photo courtesy SASHA Farm.

SASHA Farm, which celebrated 20 years as a non profit this summer, is currently the largest farm animal sanctuary in the midwest. But its very humble roots are the result of the passion of one woman, Dorothy Davies, who was a reluctant superstar in the animal rescue community.

Dorothy and her husband, Monte Jackson, started SASHA Farm more than 30 years ago at their home on Mahrle Road. Sasha was actually the name of their beloved Border Collie/Spaniel mix dog, but the name soon came to stand for Sanctuary And Safe Haven for Animals, as their rescue operation grew.

“The sanctuary currently shelters over 200 animals, each with its own story to tell,” according to the SASHA Farm website. “Some were dumped and discarded, some left to die. They have come from unhappy circumstances, often mistreated or neglected, but now have a safe, permanent home at SASHA Farm.”

One such animal made national news back in December 2003, when an enormous 1,800 pound steer escaped from an Eastern Market slaughterhouse and ran through the streets of Detroit, evading capture for a couple of hours before being tranquilized and held for two weeks because it couldn’t be slaughtered until the sedatives had cleared its system. During that time, Davies tried to negotiate with the slaughterhouse owner, and eventually was successful in bringing the animal who became known as “Jefferson” to SASHA Farm.

“One thing I have been asked is if I think I can rescue every endangered animal,” she said at the time. “I tell them the story of the starfish on the beach. I know I can’t save them all — but it will make a difference to this animal, and that’s all I can do.”

She added that Jefferson’s determination to escape showed that he deserved to live out his life in peace at the farm, which he eventually did for the next 15 years. He died naturally in 2018, surrounded by other rescued animals as well as by people who cared about him.

While part of the deal that Davies and Jackson made with the Al-Badr Slaughterhouse in Detroit when they purchased the steer was that the animal would officially have the Arabic name “Al-Badr,” he was always known affectionately as Jefferson to the staff and volunteers at SASHA Farm.

Jefferson was actually profiled early in 2018 by the Detroit Free Press, and his story was also featured in a story in the Metro Times in 2005, as part of an article called, “Speaking for the voiceless” by Jack Lessenberry.

Lessenberry told the story of how Davies’ son, Darian, became involved in 4-H as a child when they moved to Manchester from Westland in the early 1980s. Their original intention was to raise animals for food on their 60+ acres on Mahrle Road. Chickens for eggs and meat; goats for milk. They managed to kill one chicken. “That was it,” they decided. They became vegans, and the rest were spared.

“We learned that after kids raise little farm animals from infancy, they send them off to be killed,” she told him. “The day they come to get the animals is awful. The kids are crying, the parents are upset with their kids … “

So, somehow, Dorothy and Monte started saving goats. Then a pig or two, then a few cows. Maybe some turkeys that had been originally intended as Thanksgiving dinner.

The couple saw a need for a no-kill shelter, and word spread throughout the community and beyond that they had the space and the willingness to take in animals.

At the time, Dorothy worked full-time as the director of the Manchester Township Library and Monte was a truck driver. As Darian left for college and animals continued pouring into the farm, they were quickly overwhelmed.

“I had to make a choice. I couldn’t keep up with both,” she told a reporter from the Jackson Citizen-Patriot in 2010. “I wasn’t doing my work as well as I should have, and I wasn’t caring for the animals as well as I should have. So, I decided to form a nonprofit, and it just started to grow.”
And grow it has, for the past 30 years, always with Dorothy and Monte heading up the mostly-volunteer operation. A few paid staff members eventually joined them, but it’s always been primarily a labor of love for everyone involved.

Dorothy fought several health battles over the years, but always came back from it — even from being bitten by a recluse spider. “When she became ill recently, everyone thought she would come back from this, too,” said a volunteer. “But it overtook her.”

Her death on September 19 has been a shock to the SASHA Farm community as well as the wider animal rights community to which Dorothy has given so much of her life’s energy. She has received many accolades for her work with rescued animals, not all of them as well-publicized as Jefferson. But he remained prominently in people’s minds long after he eventually found a home here in Manchester.

“He put a face on food,” Dorothy told the Free Press in 2003. “Looking at hamburger meat wrapped in a cellophane package is not the same as looking at that face. He touched people. He got some people thinking. He became an ambassador for his species.”

And by taking him in, Dorothy herself became the face of an ambassador for animal rights. It was the life that she loved and a life that will be celebrated from 1-5 pm on October 9, at SASHA Farm, 17901 Mahrle Road, Manchester, MI. Face masks are required. To honor Dorothy’s legacy and to benefit the rescued animals, donations may be made via the website at sashafarm.org or may be mailed to SASHA Farm, PO Box 222, Manchester, MI, 48158.

Dorothy Davies and Monte Jackson, with some of the goats that they had rescued at SASHA Farm. (photo courtesy of SASHA Farm)

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.